Mongia, Garg placed fourth

The race was won by Great Britain8217;s Ian Pinnell and John Blundell, who were followed by the defending champions, Richard Estaugh and Peter Rowley. Estaugh and Rowley had won the title when the World Championships was held off Caranzalem beach, Panjim in Goa in March 8217;96.

Mongia as the helm and Garg, who had won the world title as the crew to Homi Motiwala in 1993 at Zimbabwe, had finished second at Goa. Yesterday, they finished behind, third placed Nick Craig and Mark Carlton.

Pakistan8217;s Mamoon Sadiq, who has won at least three gold medals in the Asian Games, finished sixth with younger brother Munir Sadiq as his crew.

The championships will be of six races.

RESULTS

First Race: 1. Ian Pinnell-John Blundell GBR; 2. Richard Estaugh-Peter Rowley GBR; 3. Nick Craig-Mark Carlton GBR; 4. Ashim Mongia-Pushpendra Garg India; 5. Roger Gilbert-Alan Skeens GBR; 6. Mamoon Sadiq-Munir Sadiq Pakistan; 13. Naresh Yadav-Giridharilal Yadav India.